A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of art of tactical vests.
B. Prior Art
In military operations of recent years, soldiers have often found themselves in the position of fighting at close quarters. In such situations, there is an important need for ammunition, rations, auxiliary weapons, radios and ancillary supplies carried by the soldier to be constrained close to the body to prevent entanglement with the foliage and to minimize the noise created by such objects. At the same time, it has been desired to permit ready access by the soldier to any of the supplies even though he may be pinned down to the ground by enemy fire or the need to camouflage himself. A vest which meets these requirements has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,307.
Domestic police forces charged with the responsibility of combating criminals have operated individually or in groups and have found military equipment useful in these missions. Teams of such police have been known as "Special Weapons and Tactics" (S.W.A.T.), Barricade Teams", "Stake Out Squads". The responsibility of the police is to subdue the criminal and take him alive if possible. Such situations often arrive on short notice and dictate the requirement that the vest be made operational with very little loss of time and efficiency. Furthermore, there is the need for close proximity of the policeman to the criminal.
It is further desirable that such a vest fit snugly over the body with or without armor or with partial armor worn underneath. By fitting the body snugly, the weight of ancillary supplies carried on the outside surface of the vest is distributed over a wider portion of the torso rather than concentrated on the shoulders of the wearer. Circumferential tension exerted by the closed vest is believed to have two additional advantages. If armor is worn underneath, the tension of the vest may increase its overall resistance to ballistic projectives resulting in a shallow deflection over a wide area of the body rather than a sharp deflection in a more concentrated area thus reducing the injury known as blunt trauma. This tension also exerts a pressure in the body such that if a bullet does penetrate the vest and the wearer's body and with a force sufficient to completely penetrate the body, the bullet will exit leaving a clean hole rather than a large laceration through which body tissues might be lost. This type of injury is known as ballistic hydraulic blowout.